by Amber Lynn
“I think I am going to need a list of the women you are involved with. I want to ask them a few questions. I think you should probably do a checklist yourself and make sure none of them are missing.”
He sits down quietly and starts making his list. “I really didn’t think it was because of me. I treat all of them real nice and they get along just fine when they see each other in town. It doesn’t make sense.” Technically, I haven’t proven he was the motive, but it is my best bet at the moment, so I am going with it.
“Jealousy is thou woman’s middle name,” I say all cryptic and old school. It is about time I joined the ranks of all the people I deal with on a daily basis. I can be just as cryptic as they are.
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asks writing down the last name and handing the list to me. I am happy to see he can remember all the girls’ names. I sincerely hope he doesn’t shout out the wrong one at inappropriate moments.
“Simple. Women are born jealous. Even if they pretend they are cool with some other girl rubbing up on you, not a one of them really is cool.”
“They seem fine to me,” he replies standing. I hope that on his check to make sure everyone is still where they should be, he doesn’t stop to get all friendly with everyone. By the time he gets through all of them, we may find a couple girls missing.
“Fine. Right. Because skinning the competition sure sounds like everything is fine and dandy to me. Hurry up and make your rounds. I want to stop to talk to a couple folks before I get to work on this list,” I say practically pushing him out his own door.
Guys can be such morons.
Once the sheriff is out of the way, I head towards the witches. They may not have had anything to do with the skinnings, but they may have ways to help the investigation. A good spell here and there can make life a lot simpler.
The shop, like any business around here, isn’t hard to find. It has a large wood plaque across the door indicating it is the apothecary. It has a nice open window, but the inside of it seems to be blacked out. So much for getting a quick peak at the insides before actually entering.
Sebastian grabs the door and holds it open for me. How nice of him. If he didn’t use the moment to brush his arm across my back, I might have enjoyed his chivalry. Truth be told, if he hadn’t been touching me so much lately, I wouldn’t have minded the caress.
“How can I help you?” a sprite of a woman asks. She has to be under five-foot. Yes! A woman that is visibly shorter than me. I am just going to ignore the fact that she is a witch and is probably projecting a false image.
“Hi, I am Nyx and this is Sebastian and Marcus. The sheriff asked us to come look into the mutilations that have been happening amongst some of the wolves in this town.”
She stays behind her counter and eyes us. I allow it while I look around the store. It is basically filled with lots of little bottles on shelves. What is in the bottles, I do not know, but I am not going to touch anything. I wouldn't want to mess with getting eye of newt out of my clothing on laundry day.
“The Sisters don’t have anything to do with wolf business,” she states in her sweet little gag me with a spoon voice.
“I don’t imagine you do, but I just wanted to know if any of you have seen anything recently that made you suspicious.”
“No. It isn’t like they would believe us, even if we had.” The little thing is getting a bit hostile. Not what I was expecting.
“Clara, it is okay. Calm down,” a woman says entering the room from a black curtain behind the counter. Clara melts back into the curtain leaving us alone with the newcomer. “It is nice to meet you Ms. Slaughter. I have been hearing many things about you in the grapevine.” I am curious to know what grapevine she means. I don’t tend to associate with a lot of witches. For all I know, she might have a physical vine in the back room that she uses to communicate with the outside world.
“Interesting. I don’t believe I gave my last name,” I say staring at the woman. She is taller, probably five-eight. She has long blonde hair and brown eyes that seem wrong.
“You didn’t, but as I have said, I have heard of you. I am glad you stopped by on your quest. We may have information that can help you and at the same time I am hoping you can deliver a message for me.”
“Do you have a name? I don’t like to talk shop with people I am not properly introduced to.”
“Of course. My name is Glenda,” she says with a smile. What a unique name for a witch. Not.
“Okay, Glenda, so what do you think you may know that may help me with my investigation?” I ask wondering if I could have figured a way to stick “may” in that sentence just one more time.
“I know that we had a break-in about a week ago. Security hasn’t ever been a problem in this town, so we didn’t have our toughest wards up. Doesn’t matter now. Bottles of elderberry root, cat’s claw, white willow and horsetail are each missing along with a vial of oyster extract. Do you happen to know what those are the ingredients for?”
I did and it didn’t spell great news for us.
“They are for a do it yourself, no witch needed, glamour potion. You said this was within the last week, not before the kidnappings started?”
“No. If I remember right, it was a little after the second wolf was found. Maybe a day or two.”
“Weird, I would think the culprit would have wanted to disguise themselves from the start. I know the basics on what the potion could do, but would it be able to glamour objects as well?” I ask thinking about my knife mystery.
“No,” she says shaking her head. “That one is bio-based. You have to be breathing for it to do anything.”
No matter how you look at it, this development adds a big wrinkle into how I go about this. “How many doses do you think the person could make and how long would they last?”
“Each potion would last probably four hours. With the amount taken, you are looking at thirty to thirty-six doses,” she says calculating the numbers in her head. I hope she remembered to carry the one.
“Thank you for your information. Sadly, I think it makes my job harder. If you can think of anything else, will you please let us know?”
“Of course. Now do you mind passing a message along?” Not sure whom the message is for, I just nod my head. If it is some grand poobah from the Collective, she will be out of luck. “Could you let Benjalarico know I need to change the terms of our deal and I will meet him at the usual place at midnight next Wednesday? You will save me from leaving and having to painstakingly summon the stinking bastard.”
“I wasn’t making any plans to specifically see him, but if I do, I will pass the information on.”
“The grapevine, I referred to earlier, indicates you see him most days.”
“I only met him a week ago and have had a little problem getting him to stay away, but I always hope today will be the first day in a long stretch,” I tell her.
“Good luck with that. I have known him for decades and haven’t been able to bend him to my will yet.”
“Like I said, I am always hoping. We are going to make another quick stop before meeting back up with the sheriff, so we better be off.”
“Good luck. Not with this mission, I am sure you will figure it out, but good luck with your little demon problem,” she says before she leaves the room and Clara reappears.
“Here, I am supposed to give this to you,” she says handing Sebastian a book before leaving the room again.
Weird, creepy witches. Alas, I have no time to think about them, I have a vampire to question.
Chapter 20
Things are beginning to look a little clearer
“Walt said it was on the south side of town, right?” I ask walking in that general direction.
“House with a blue door. In this town full of brown and gray, I don’t think it will be hard to find,” Sebastian says while swinging my hand in his. The motion brings my attention to the book he received in his free hand.
“What do you suppose
is in the book?”
“Evidently, something I really need if the witches just handed it over to me. They don't tend to share well and I didn't see a sign out sheet saying when to return it,” he says bringing it front and center to look at the cover.
“What does it say?” I ask seeing letters on the cover, but not recognizing it as a language I know.
“Grueker-tilnay,” he says studying it closely.
“Isn't that what Demon Boy told us as his little hint to the missing piece of our bond reuniting ceremony?” I ask surprised we found a clue here in Ghost Town.
“Yes. Unbreakable bond. It would appear I have some reading ahead of me. I am sure it is just lines and lines of how many chickens and goats we need and the precise number of times we need to say the alphabet backwards,” he says causing me to laugh at my previous tirade of all the things we may have to do during the ceremony.
“Hopefully, we can wrap things up quickly and, since we have the trailer, maybe we can pick up the needed billy goats on the way home.”
“Perfect. I was so worried about how we were going to get those to the city,” he replies.
“I reckon that is the place we are looking for,” Marcus says drawing our eyes to a little shack that resembles Debra’s minus the flower box and with a nice blue door.
The monotony in this town would probably drive me insane within a week. I need to hurry up and stay on track so we can blow this pop stand as soon as possible.
Being that an unknown male entity resides behind the blue door, Sebby takes the lead and knocks. Personally, it makes me feel like a pansy, but I am going with whatever floats his boat today.
“Hmm, fresh meat,” a tall, pasty white man says opening the front door. I get a quick look at him before Sebastian adjusts to block my view. “To what do I owe this honor?”
“Would you be Roger?” I ask from behind Sebastian.
“Hey Sebastian, you are getting really good at that throwing your voice trick. You are going to have to teach it to me,” I hear Roger say. Great. Another person already known by my posse. If they ever lost one of their ranks, we could just come here and I am sure the missing person would reside in one of the other shacks in town.
“Dante, who in their right mind would let you in this town?” Sebastian asks jokingly.
“I am sure you have heard by now, the town is open for those that need it. Alan, that would be my maker for the gnome that doesn't know me, started getting a little filicidal on me, I needed to get away and it was available to me.”
“You did not just call me a gnome,” I say before he can say anything else.
I get the jokes all the time, but this is a first for being called a gnome. Gnomes are a foot tall, if they are lucky, and wear them ugly pointy hats. You won't find me in a damn hat.
“I am not sure if anyone has told you this yet, princess, but you are on the tiny side.”
“Duh. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out with all the Amazons I hang out with on a daily basis. I haven't been sitting around trying to convince myself that they are the freaks and not me,” I say pushing Sebastian out of the way. “And don't you be calling me princess. Only one person gets away with that at the moment and it is because I know he means it.”
“Nice to finally get a good look at you. Now, I have to ask what you are doing with these two goons?” he says with a secretive smile. I think he is the only one in on the secret and I have no desire to find it out.
“Nyx is mine and on the vampire side of things she would be considered a queen, not a princess,” Sebastian says letting it be known there is no room for discussion on the matter. “I don't believe you are getting off on the right foot with her.”
I doubt there is a person alive that managed to get off on the right foot with me. Some say it is my prickly personality, I say the world is full of jackasses. Thinking back, though, Sebby didn't do too bad of a job when we first met. I don't think I left his sex club planning his demise.
“Really? This is the famous Nyx Slaughter. You are keeping some interesting company these days, Sebastian.” I catch him eying me up. Too bad we don't have Clyde with us. He might need to floss his teeth after supper, on this guy's tendons.
“She is my chosen mate, so I would prefer it if you didn't stare at her like that,” Sebastian says grinding his teeth.
“Sorry, I didn't feel the bond, but if you say it is there, I will believe you.” I am sure Sebastian didn't need to be reminded of that little fact.
“We are having a slight issue right now with our bond, but by week's end it will be back and bigger than ever,” Sebastian insists.
“Really? I thought the bond was either there or it wasn't and I thought that once it was in place it was permanent.”
“Yeah, well join the party. How well do we know this guy?” I ask curious how much should actually be said in front of him. I can tell he isn't that old, maybe a hundred years.
“I have issues with his maker and so does he. It is something we have bonded over the years about. I wouldn't tell him all of our secrets, since I have not seen him in a while and don't know for sure the company he has been keeping, but general things about our relationship should be okay,” Sebastian says. I take it by his emphasis on “our”, that I shouldn't mention I have a horny werewolf waiting at home for me.
“Ouch. You do know I am standing right here. Even before coming here, I was out of any scary circles back in the real world and the other vamps here are just hiding out from working with you in your resistance,” he informs us.
“Who else is here?” Sebastian asks.
“Cleo and Maria. They said they have been hiding out from Collective assassins for a while now. Obviously, the Collective's assassin extraordinaire here was never put on their cases.”
“I retired a month ago for personal reasons,” I say not planning on going into any of the details.
“I didn't know when, but I kind of figured that part out. You two would make very strange bedfellows otherwise. Talk about sleeping with the enemy.”
“Have you seen any other resistance associated vampires come through the town? There are quite a few that we haven’t been able to find and as you can imagine, even if they were killed, bodies don’t always turn up,” Sebastian states.
“Sure, in just the year I have been here there have been a handful of your little soldiers. Brady, Nate, Catherine, and Jonathan have all been seen slumming it through town. From what I gathered during their visits, they just needed a place to lie low while some heat cooled down.”
“Do you know how long ago Nate, in particular, came through? We heard rumors six months ago that a Collective agent got to him.”
“Nah. Couldn’t have. He was here for a couple of days about two months ago. The wolves tend to hunker down around here, but I am the only vampire that has stayed a whole year. The food supply is limited and the company isn’t usually worth a shit.”
“Can we get on to the reason for our visit? I can assure you Dante, or Roger, whatever your name is, that we didn't drop by to socialize,” I say trying to move things along. Even though the guy has been providing some good information for Sebby, I don’t like him and I want to get away from him as quickly as possible.
“My apologies. It has just been a while since I have seen anyone I know and you haven't even given me a chance to try to rile Marcus,” he says giving me a wink. “Now why don't you guys come in so we can discuss what has brought you to my door this day.”
He moves out of the way and we all scuttle in. The layout and furniture is the same as Debra's, so nothing really new to report. He indicates we should sit on the couch and we follow the suggestion with me being flanked by Sebastian and Marcus.
“I will get to the point, now that playtime is over. We were told you would be the person to see in town if we wanted to identify where a certain scent may have originated.”
“I do keep my nose open. Things get rather tedious around here, so I write down different things
I notice about the wolves around town. Let me get my book and we can look and see what I have on the subject.” He moves into the bedroom area and comes back quickly with a large black book. “So, what are we looking for?”
“Cloves. We are investigating the skinning of three wolves in town and two of the victims have smelled like cloves.”
“I don't even need my book for that one. The only person I have smelled with that scent is this uppity blonde bitch. I don't know her name, nor do I want to. She thinks she is something real special and parades around the town in next to nothing,” he says in disgust.
“Do you know if she hangs out with the sheriff, by any chance?” I ask wanting to solidify that connection.
“Oh yeah. If she could glue herself to the man, I am pretty sure she would. Sheriff ain't like that, though, and really likes to keep his options open.”
“So we have heard. Do you happen to know where this 'blonde bitch', as you put it, lives?” I ask.
“Sure. She has a house close to the center of town. Maybe a block or two west from the main strip. I am almost positive it is the only house in town with them purple and yellow flowers. I think she has the sheriff get them special for her each year.”
“You're sure there aren't any other houses in town with the flowers?” I ask wanting to verify before I go charging in.
“I am pretty certain. I walk around a lot and other people have flowers, but they are usually red or pink. She is the only one that has those purple ones. I want to say they are a kind of hydrangea.”
“Great. Thanks, you have been a big help. I hate to end our visit so quickly, but we need to leave. Now,” I say standing, trying to drag Sebastian with me.
“Do you mind if I come along? It sounds like something interesting is going to happen and I have been so bored lately.”
“Keep up,” I say wishing I had put my holster back on after the road trip. I settle on grabbing one of my thigh knives and start running. I have a feeling I know how that glamour potion is being used and it ain't pretty.
